Supporting-bracket for car-doors.



v F. MATHEWS. SUPPORTING BRACKET FOR CAR DOORS.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

idem? flZMu/J 1 STATES PAT NT OFFIC -i I ram) MATHEWS, or CHICAGO,

rumors, ASSIGNOR TO CLINTON'C..MUKBHY, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING-BRACKET FOB GAR-DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed February 19, 1915. Serial No.'9,353.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED MATHEWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Supporting-Brackets for Car-Doors, of which the clear, and eXact description.

My invention escape notice until jolted out by the vibration of the car after it has left the place where the theft was committed, thus making it almost impossible to trace the plunderer.

The object of my invention 1s to combine bracket that will preventbeing pried v upward ofi' the same and will render'it impossible toin one structure a the car door from tamper with all of the bolts or rivets employed to secure -said bracket in position,

and thus make it very much more diflicult from the side of the car.

to pry the bracket This I accomplish by the means hereinafter fully described, and as particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, l3igure 1 is a side view of a fragmentof the side of a freight car and of a lower corner portion of a cardoor and supporting bracket therefor embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of said bracket removedfrom the said car. vFig.3

is a vertical transverse section of the same taken on dotted line S -B, Flgrl. s Fig. 4 is a detailview showlnga horizontal section of said bracket just above the central bolt head housing. a

Referring tothe drawings, A represents a fragment of the following is a full,

relates tobrackets for supporting and directing the movements of in viewofthetrust do not dare to-break the seal used in connection with the door-lock s e a r i ht a and B represents the'lower right hand -corner This corner of the triangular corner-plate C,

portion of a car-door; car-door has a which is boltsa, a, a, and whichhas its right angular edges flanged rearwardly to, protect the edgesof the corner of the car-door mutilation, and is provided with parallel horizontal ribs, allel with its lower edge.

lower edge of the plate and the outer edges near their ends are beveled or slanted,

Patented. M 10, 1915.

secured i to the door; by means of:

from;

b, b, adjacentto andpan These ribs eX- tend practically the entire length of, the.

toward the] ends thereof so that when. the,

door is slid back and forth the slanting edges of the. ends of said ribs'will comelin contact with the inner surface of the guide.- plate of the brackets and will causethe lower edge of the door to move toward the side of the car. These brackets each comprises an attachingsplate 2the 11pper portion of which is, preferably, wider than the lower and is secured to the side of the car by means of rivets or bolts 3, 3, that pass through bolt, s

holes (not shown) in the resulting lobes at each end and by means of a bolt 4 about midway between bolts 3.i The attachingplate is provided with a vertically elongated slot 5 midway'between bolts 3, 3, which extends from the lower edge of said plate to a point above the horizontal plane of bolts 3. The barrel of bolt l passes through said slot 5, but the shoulders'of head 6 ofthe bolt bear against the outer margins ofthe edges of the same, and said head is inclosed within a vertically elongated housing 7 Which'is integral with the attaching-plate, and is built out in front of slot 5 and extends point above said slot; This houslng is rec tangular in horizontal section and the width of its bore is but slightly greater than the, widthof the headof bolt 43, and its upper end has'its angles cut away for convenience in casting it. When, attaching the brackets to the sidesof the car, bolt Bis first loosely 'through its: previously made bolt ters thelower open end of the housing and the'ba'rrel of the bolt enters slot 5 When and the, attaching-plate placed in: above said bolt, against the from the lower edge of said plate to a the bolt reaches. the position,shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, holes are bored through the side walls of the car, and bolts 33 are inserted and then all of them tightened. The construction of the attaching-pl'ate'with slot 5 in it permits of the vertical adjustment of plate 2 to enable it to support the lower edge of the car-door before bolts 3 are inserted andtightened, and thus insures an even support for the door from one end to the other.

The bracket proper-consists of a platform ich-is made integral with and projects out from'the upper edge of the-attachingplate above the upper end of the housing, and in such relative position that said housing is under one outer edge of this platform has a guide or confining wall 9 projecting vertically therefrom. The lower edge of the car-door moves between this guide-wall and the side of the car, and I prefer to convex the side of it facing'the car so as to prevent the vertical edges'of the moving door striking its vertical edges. The outer edge of this guideplate is braced and supported by a strut 10,

\ the lower end of which is sprung from the lower part of the attaching-plate alongside central rib in front the lower edge of the door.

i when the door and the bracket are of the housing and which extends outward and upward to and merges into the platform and guide-wall and, preferably, extends as a of the guide-wall;

The central portion of platform Sis cut away between guide-wall 9 and the attaching-pl'ate, and in the substantially retangular spaceso provided a'roller 12 is placed with the axis of the same at right angles to This roller is journaled on a spindle 13 and the latter has bearings in guide-wall 9 and an extension thereof below the plane of platform 8, and in the attaching-plate and the lower edge of the door rests on this roller.

' Thecenter of the guide-wall, just below its upper edge, is provided with alug 14 that projects inward toward the door, and over ribs 1), b, of the corner-plate .G and properly assembled this lug will be above ribs 6 about one-half an inch and will positively prevent the door being raised more than that distance by'reason of the ribs coming in contact therewith.

While I much prefer the use of the roller 12, it can be dispensed with and the door can rest directly on the platform. In such event, the lug 1 L could be placed lower down on the guide-wall. I' do not wish to be confined I struction, I altered Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

said plate,

side edge thereof and the said plate,

exact con What I claim as new is:

1. A support for car doors comprising an attaching-plate having a vertical slot in the lower edge thereof, a vertically elongated tubular housing projecting therefrom in front of said slot, a platform projecting from said plate above said housing, a guide-wall rising from the outer edges of said platform, and a lug projecting from said guide-wall in combination with a car door and a horizontal rib projecting therefrom which is adapted to be engaged by said lug.

2. A support for car-doors comprising an attaching-plate, a platform projecting from a guide-wall arising from the outer edge portion of said platform, and a lug projecting from said guide-wall toward said plate, in combination with a car-door and corner plate therefor, and a horizontal rib projecting forward from the same that is adapted to be engaged by the underside of said lug.

3. A support for car-doors comprising an attaching-plate having a vertical slot extending from the lower edge thereof, a tubular housing projecting from said plate in front of said slot, a bolt the head of which is confined and prevented from turning in said housing and whose barrel extends through said slot, a platform projecting from said plate above said housing, a guidewall arising from the outer edge of said platform, and a lug projecting from said guide-wall toward said plate, in combination' with a car-door and corner plate therefor, and a horizontal rib projecting forward from the same that is adapted to be engaged by the underside of said lug.

4:- A support for car-doors comprising an attaching-plate, a platform projecting forward from said plate the central portion of which is cut away between its outer edge and said plate, a guide-wall which is integral with and a portion of which rises above the plane of the outer edge of the platform, a roller the journals of which have bearings in a lower extension of said guide-wall and in and a lug projecting inward from said guide-wall toward said plate, in combination with a car-door and corner plate therefor, and a horizontal rib projecting forward from the same that is adapted to be engaged by the underside of said lug.

5. A support for car-doors comprising an attaching-plate having a vertical slot in the lower edge thereof, a vertically elongated tubular housing projecting therefrom in front of said slot, a platform projecting for ward from said plate the central portion of which is cut away between its outer edge and said plate, a guide-wall which is integral with and a portion of which rises above the plane of the outer edge of the platform, a roller the journals of which have bearings in a lower extension of said guide-wall and in said plate, and a lug projecting inward from said guide-wall toward said plate, in combination with a car-door and corner plate therefor, and a horizontal rib projecting forward from the same that is adapted to be engaged by the underside of said lug.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of February, 1915.

FRED MATHEWS.

Witnesses:

FRANK D. THoMAsoN, FLORENCE MITCHELL.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the f Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

